“Returning to society after a stint behind bars can be difficult, but those coming back to the District after doing time face particularly long odds, according to a report released Monday.
“The report by the Council for Court Excellence, a nonprofit that advocates for improvements to the city’s criminal justice system, indicates that 1 in 22 adults in the District are ‘under some form of correctional control,’ including jail or probation. Prisoners are often housed in federal facilities as far away as the West Coast, the report notes, and most of the struggles resulting from a criminal record are borne by the city’s [B]lack residents.
“’D.C.’s returning citizens face a variety of challenges that returning citizens elsewhere simply do not confront,’ the report says, noting the city’s status as a federal district rather than a state. ‘It does not have to be this way.’”